The present invention relates generally to the fields of virtualization, Input/Output (I/O) resource virtualization, and more particularly to hardware accelerators.
In computing, virtualization refers to the logical division of hardware resources (e.g., processors or memory) in a computer system, creating logical partitions (LPARs) which may be used for a variety of purposes. LPARs, sometimes known as Virtual Machines (VMs), can act like separate, real computers running on a single computer system and can be used to emulate different operating systems. A hypervisor is a software and/or hardware component which is used to create and run VMs.
A host partition can run software that enables the sharing of physical I/O resources amongst the host partition and client LPARs. One such example of I/O virtualization software is Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) by International Business Machines Corporation. Using VIOS, physical I/O resources such as, but not limited to, Small Computer Serial Interface (SCSI) devices, Fibre Channel adapters and Ethernet adapters can be shared amongst client LPARs.
Hardware accelerators are hardware components that can be installed on a computer system and execute certain processes, such as computing numerically intensive algorithms, more efficiently than other general purpose processors in the system. Hardware accelerators can be coprocessors and may include field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). FPGAs are configurable integrated circuits that can be customized and used for a variety of applications, such as the specific processing of different algorithms.